Powdered bleach materials are known in the hair coloring art which, when mixed with a developer such as hydrogen peroxide of various strengths or "volumes", can be applied to the hair as an "off-the-scalp" type bleach. It is so called because many persons have skin that is irritated by contact with the bleach material. Hair can also be damaged by improper use of the bleach material. Because of the nature and properties of powdered bleach materials, such as BASIC WHITE, special packaging for intended uses have been customarily used and special instructions for mixing and applying the materials have been issued by the manufacturers of such products.
For example, BASIC WHITE, is a very fine powdered material that is hygroscopic and therefore must be protected against humidity in the atmosphere during storage. It requires the admixture with it of a developer, generally a peroxide solution, in order to form a paste which is in a condition for spreading on the hair by a brush in the manner described hereinabove. The current practice as exemplified by a kit for frosting or tipping a woman's hair is to produce and seal a carton containing a bowl or mixing vessel, an air-tight can of BASIC WHITE, a plastic squeeze bottle containing the developer and having a moisture-tight cap screwed on the neck thereof, a spoon or the like to serve as the mixing implement when the powder and the developer are mixed together in the open bowl, a perforated cap, two plastic hooks and a sheet of instructions with a double sheet of plastic adhering to the back side in which a pair of gloves is formed by heat sealing the periphery and weakening the sheet around them so that the gloves can be pulled loose to wear during application of the mixture of the BASIC WHITE and developer to the hair pulled through the perforations in the cap. The instructions warn against inhaling the personally obnoxious cloud of powder which inevitably rises from the mixing bowl when the can is emptied into it and when the powder is first stirred to blend it with the liquid developer. The paste is usually applied to the hair by means of a brush, either all over or selectively in streaks, as in hair painting where regular, uniform strands of hair are painted by a brush that is dipped into the paste in the bowl and then moved downwardly, starting with the paste about 1/2 inch away from the scalp and continuing to the ends of the hairs in the strand.
In another current practice for beauty shop use, BASIC WHITE is sold in much larger quantity than the aforementioned unit size needed for a single hair treatment. Currently the larger quantity of powder is placed in a single plastic bag large enough to hold the same and this bag is put inside a can that may be opened and closed to minimize contact of the atmosphere with the BASIC WHITE until it has all been used up by removing successive unit quantities, mixing each unit quantity with developer in a bowl and then using it. The problem of dust in the air attends the use of the powder when packaged and mixed in this way also.